The present invention relates to bacteria which can produce pyrimine useful as an intermediate of a natural dye, ferropyrimine, and to a method for effectively preparing pyrimine in which the pyrimine-producing bacteria are used.
Natural dyes have recently attracted much attention since doubt has arisen regarding the safety of synthetic dyes. Among such natural dyes, a natural red dye, ferropyrimine, has been produced by culturing a GH-strain belonging to genus Pseudomonas in a culture medium to have the strain produce pyrimine and simultaneously associate the resulting pyrimine with iron ions which are added to the culture medium in advance and isolating the thus formed ferropyrimine from the culture medium (see Biochemistry, 1965, 4, No. 10).